I’m Chairman, North America of Landor Associates, a brand consulting and design firm that specializes in creating agile brands that thrive in today’s disruptive, changing market. I work with some of the most powerful brands in the world, and oversee Landor’s new business efforts in North America. I’m also author of three books, The Edge: 50 Tips from Brands that Lead, BrandDigital, and BrandSimple. I’m interested in general business trends and write about their impact on brands. I’ve worked with corporate and consumer brands in a wide range of industries including: Diageo, FedEx, GE, J&J, the NBA, P&G, and Verizon.

General Mills Knows Every Package Tells A Story, And It Had Better Be The Right One

Boy, is it getting tough out there. No, I’m not referring to the battle of the Republican presidential candidates, although that’s pretty wild. Rather, I’m referring to the supermarket aisles. Never before have there been so many choices when it comes to everything from cereal to yogurt to frozen peas. And, while this is challenging for consumers, it’s equally challenging for the marketers whose job it is to grab their attention. Those in the business of creating an outside to protect what’s inside a box or carton know that there is a very tiny window of opportunity for a product to stand out and get noticed by busy shoppers. They also know that it’s not simply a matter of eye-catching colors and graphic expressions that will get their brand tossed into the shopping cart, but the communication of a deeper story – the brand story. Smart marketers understand that in the split second a shopper stands in front of their products, he or she must be able to pick up what makes this particular brand of cereal or yogurt or frozen peas relevantly different from all the others.

With this notion in mind, I decided to go to one of the experts in this arena, Elizabeth Nientimp, Director of Brand Design at General Mills. With a few (a gazillion?) consumer packaged goods in her line of sight – Cheerios, Green Giant, Betty Crocker, Yoplait, and Pillsbury, among them – I knew that if anyone had a few words of wisdom about what it takes to, well, package a brand’s promise, she would. And, I was right. Here is a bit of our very interesting conversation.

Allen Adamson: Anyone who walks through a supermarket can see that the choices consumers have in all brand categories are growing exponentially. And, as marketers, we know that consumers have the ways and means to share their experiences about all these brands. The marketplace has become both more competitive and virtually transparent. How are you, at General Mills, dealing with this evolving state of marketing, specifically in terms of telling a brand story through its packaging?

Elizabeth Nientimp: Consumers make the choice of which brand to pull off the supermarket shelf in mere seconds. About 90% of this decision-making process is simply looking at things and the other 10% reading. That means that the design has to immediately convey what we want consumer to think about the brand. Or, said another way, what the brands stands for, how it will fit into the consumer’s life, must be communicated in an instant.

AA: It’s the tangible substantiation that a picture is worth 1000 words. Your team has to be very clear about the brand’s core identity and what it means to the customer before they can even begin to think about the design of the package.

EN: Exactly. Many historically treated package design as the “decoration station.” It was the last step in the marketing process before the goods went out the door. Not anymore. Package design is a business decision at General Mills, seen not only as the number one ownable asset, but an investment in the brand. If you haven’t figured out the true identity of your brand, your packaging won’t be authentic. The box, can, pouch or cup has to reflect a brand’s values in order to connect with consumers. The packaging of a product plays an integral role in shaping the way a consumer feels about your brand.

AA: Focusing on the brand’s meaning is critical to setting yourself up for success. Making it clear, through packaging, that your brand meets an essential consumer need drives brand advantage.

EN: Right. Our objective is to demonstrate to consumers that we believe in things that are important to them beyond what’s in the package. It’s a shared value proposition. For example, our Box Tops for Education program continues to exceed our expectations because it taps into something incredibly important to parents. The program is a powerful demonstration of our belief that nourishing children’s lives is as much about education as it is about nutrition.

AA: So back to that word, “authentic.” With everything so visible in today’s marketplace, it’s becoming more and more evident to consumers that a brand is as a brand does. The Box Tops program is authentic to the General Mills brand. It’s believable and successful because it’s in sync with your values.

EN: It also gives us the opportunity to have conversations with our consumers, to create an on-going dialogue and learn more about what’s important to them. It’s gaining a better understanding of your consumer that leads to success. In packaging we can channel this understanding. How? It’s an opportunity to truly champion the brand and what it stands for.

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